Drying apparatus



L. MARTIN 2,138,333

DRYING APPARATUS Nov. 29, 1938.

5 Sheets-Shed 1 Filed. May 6, 1956 INVENTOR :nocu. L. MARTIN ATTORNEYS Nov. 29, 1938. w. L. MARTIN 2,138,333

DRYING APPARATUS Filed May e, 1936 3 Shgets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR WEN DELL L MHRTIN $14M W MAM- ATTORNEYS Patented Nov. 29, 1938 This invention relates to drying apparatus; and

has particular reference toapparat'us for use m drying hair or the hands, or the like, andanobjectof the invention is to provide a" new and imf' proved apparatus of this type.

Another object of the invention isto provide, means whereby theflow of hot or, warm airjwill be confined to the top and back of thehead, and

will be prevented from dischargingover the Iace;

means for directing the flow of warm air over the top of the head, andfor setting up eddies tocause a slight intake ,flowg of freshalr over, the {orehead. i

A further objector the invention-ism provide a drying apparatus with means forevenly'dis- ,tributing the hot air to both. sides of theback ofa persons head. Other andfurther objects and. advantages of the invention will beapparentas the speciflcaef tion is considered in connection with theaccompanying drawings, in-which:v

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional longitudinal view through a drier embodying the invention,

the arrows showing the. directiony'ofjflow of the Figure 3 is a rear ,view of the frontsection o! the casing or hood; a Figure 4 is a diagram of the electricalclrcuits; Figure 5 is a side view of the drier with the front section'of the casing or hood broken away to show the fins and baifles; and I i Figurefi is a. front view 01': the drier. .1 I Referring more particularly to the drawings wherein an illustrative embodiment of my invention is shown, the drier comprises a preferably cast' supporting ring :I,- carrying within itself anelectric motor. 2 and a; cylindrical houslng:3 for the motor. An outercasing or shell .Lsecured to the rear portion of the motor housing 3 and to the ring I by means oi'angle bracketsis formed,

with a. centrally disposedacircular vopeningi,

the, outer or forward cylindrical section Lsleeves within the outer end; of; the substantially bell shaped inner or-rear section 8, aslight distance,

and is removably secured thereto by means of bolts 9. Secured to the forward edge oi the hood section 1-, by means of screws l 0, ;is a cast deflecting member or ring having inwardly inclined' walls adapted to intercept the issuing Another object is to provide a drier wlthbaflle ,"from the drier and to defiectit nanny swim *against thethead and hair. The casing 4, which ;isadapted"to beidirectedtoward thehead and hair'oflthe person whose hair, is being dried and which may, if desired, at-least partially embrace tubular upright orjsupport l2 through the mediumofihterposedlinkage mechanism l3.. The. 'ring I is formed with an enlarged integral dome shaped spider likelportion 30 -havingan outwardly and downwardly extending enlargement l4 to which the upper end oithe linkage mechanism is connected; g Arranged within thehoodor casing 4, in spaced relation thereto, is a cylindrical inner shellor easing l5, the forward edge of \whichterminates in 'a'; planelocated justto the rearof the outer ,periphery or rimoithe ringmember 1 land is provided with a plurality ofelongated top openings or: apertures [6, some three in number, terminating at their outer ends adjacent the for; ward end of the inner casing. An annular air passage 11, for a pur-pose presently described, is

- thus iormed between the inner and outer casings. f 'Anannular heating el'eme ntlB is secured to'the rearouter surface oi the ,inner shell or casing Iby tastenings l8, so as to lie within-the air passage I l and heat the air passing therethrough. A grid 20 suitably secured to the inner casing asby means. of screws 2|, serves as a support for a screen 22, which in turn prevents any possibility of the hair being drawn into the drier by the inwardly flowing air stream. Removably mounted on-the reduced forward end of the shaft 22' of ;motor 2, by means'ofa set screw 3l, is a double centrifugal man, the front part 24 of which is iormedto draw in air, partly. f; 'om without the ho d. rearwardlylthrough the screen22 and ex-.

, Del such air centritugally outwardly and 'for wardly into and through the annular air passage H where it is heated by the heating element Hi to the desired temperature, Therearpart, 2 5 of the fan 23, draws air into the motorcasing .3, through shaft opening the rear of motor housing 3, thus, preventingoverheating the. motor ,2, and

then this air isdrawn out through apertures 26 in the housing aii'difinally lntroducediintoflthe currentlset up bathe front part 24 of the rank Suitable bearings, not shown, are providedin the spider portion 300i ring I and in the bottom 32 of the motor housing 3 respectively for the ends, of the motor shaft'v v The inner and outer casings are connected at -the same, is plvhtally carried/by an extensible intervals by sheetmetal fins Z'Iextending in the general dlrectionflof the axis orthe casings but inclined at a tangent thereto, and designed, among other things, to reduceor eliminate pulsation or surge in the stream of air flowing outwardly through passage [1. One each of these fins extends along one side edge of each of the three elongated air openings IS, in the top portion of inner casing I5. Facing the drier, the fins are secured to and positioned along the right hand edge of the respective openings and extend in an inclined direction partially over the openings, and loosely engage or contact at their upper'ends with the inner wall of casing 4. Ex-

tending at substantially right angles to these, three fins and secured to the inner casing l5,

along the forward edge of the air openings I6, are rearwardly inclined sheet metal bafile members 28 which project rearwardly over the openings. These fins and bailles deflect the air stream flowing outwardly through annular passage l'l inwardly through openings l6 and thence down over the top of the head of the person whose-hairis being dried,'but effectively preventing the discharge of air over the face, the air discharged from the drier emerging at the sides and bottom of the drier opening.

From theforegoing description it will be obviousthat operation of the motor 2 actuates the fan to set up' aimain current of air from in front of the fan and i'an auxiliary current from the rear of the fanfbotli uniting beyond the periphery of the'fan in'jpassage' H. The fan rotates in a clockwisedirection and in consequence the air currents set up,--by-"the fan will be directed in a single swirling stream which travels in an outwardly and clockwise direction until it is deflected, still swirling, inwardly through the openings IS. The fins'Z'I and baffle members28, by Virtue of their location and inclination'with-respect to the openings l6, form a pocket from which the air stream is deflected through the openings 16, and prevented from discharging over the face f A further result obtained by the use of the baffles 28,'is the setting up of eddies that cause a slight intake of air over the forehead, with very desirable cooling effect. Thus, as the forwardly swirling main air current, moved by the fan in the direction indicated by the arrows, contacts with the fins 21, itis deflected forward along the fins to the baflles 28 and then through the inner shell where it passesover the top of the head and then back to the center of the fan. As the forward moving swirl is intercepted by the baffies 28, an eddy current indicated by letter E'is set up adjacent'th'e forward or front face of each battle which is not broken up by the air being propeller by the fan, as the path of the air is directly throughthe openings into the inner shell. These eddies, which are permitted'to continue in front ofall three of the baffles, result in a continuous replacement by'suction of cool air from the room along the areaoccupied by theforehead. While the air circuit is relatively short, it will be, noted that the fins are spaced sufilciently far from the fan to provide the max imum'fan clearance and the minimum of noise.- The main current of air flowing inwardly to the center of the fan and thence outwardly and forwardlythrough passage l1 and back into the Due to the general clockwise forward direction imparted to the main air current by the clockwise rotation of the fan, that is, from left to right facing the drier, and the fins 21 being on the far side of the openings [6, the fins intercept and direct the stream of air inwardly through these openings over the top and back of the head. However, it has been noted that while a relatively large quantity of air is intercepted by the left sideof the person's neck, the general direction of the air swirl or current is away from the head and consequently the right side of the head is not subjected to its proportionate volume of air. To overcome this, the fins 21 at the left of the hood are made of considerablygreater length and therefore deflecting capacity or area than the fins at the other or right side of the hood. Thus the air stream is evenlydistributed to both sides of the head. Those of the fins 2'! which are of greater length than the others bear the letter L in Figures 2 and 5 for convenience of identification.

A feature of the "invention is the provision of a conveniently operable means for controlling the operation of the drier. Heretofore, it has been the practice toprovide a control switch on the end of the wiring leading tothe drier. This switch was placed in the lap of the person whose hairwas being dried, and whilequite convenient to operate, this proved somewhat unsanitary, Furthermore, it frequently happened that the users hands were-burned due to improper insulation. I According to the-present invention a control switch 34 is positioned within a housing 35 securedto'one' side ofthe casing 4, adjacent the front thereof, by any suitable means, not shown. The switch and wiring are thus inclosed and protected, although the latter isin'convenient position to be reached for regulating the temperature of the air passing through the drier.

The heating element I8 includes aheating coil 41 and two resistance coils 48 and 49. Asimple formof circuit is illustrated in Figure'4 wherein a first lineconductor 40 leads from the power line, not shown; to the control'switch 34, and a second line conductor 39 leads directly to the motor 2 and to the heating element l8. The switch-34 is provided with a contact arm 43 which when moved to engage a contact bar 44, current flows from line 40 through contact bar 44 and line 5| to and through resistance coils 48 and 48 and heating coil 41 to brush 55 of motor 2, it

being noted that heating element 18 is connected at opposite ends to line 5| and-second line conductor 39, thus completing the circuit. As the current passes throughall three resistances, during this position of the switch, the air will be heated to the minimum or lowest temperature desired; Line 5| also connects first .line" conductor 40 with brush 56 of the motor. To obtain the maximum of heat from heating element l8, the operator turns contact arm 43 until it bridges contact bars 44 and 45, thus connecting the'switch 34 directly with heatingcoil 41', through line 50. Finally if a-medium or intermediate heating of the air stream is desired the arm 43 is moved into engagement with Conta t iathus bridging contact bars 44 and 46, whereupon the switch will be connected through line 52 withr sistance coil 48, heating coil- 41 and brush 55.

Mounted on that side of'the casing 4, opposite the housing 35 from switch 34, is a similar housing 31 which encloses a reading lampor bulb 38 The inner facev of the housing'ispreferablysil-- vered or otherwise coated to provide a good light reflecting surface. A push or turn button 39, projects from the flared front end of the housing 31 for convenience in turning the light on and off. Where desirable the lamp and switch housings can be made integral with the outer casing or hood. One terminal of lamp 3! is connected through line 57 to the first line conductor 40 leading to switch 34 and brush it, and the other lamp terminal is connected through line 54 to the second line conductor 39. Current is thus always flowing to lamp 38 when the motor control switch 34 is on.

Having thus described my invention,

What I claim is:

1. An apparatus for drying by fluid circulation comprising outer and inner axially aligned shells, means for supporting said shells, a motor in said outer shell and supported by said means, said outer shell being open at its front end and bent downwardly at its rear end to substantially enclose said motor, said inner shell being open at its front and rear ends and spaced from said outer shell for forming a substantially ringshaped passage between said shells, a heating element adjacent the rear end of said passage openings in the top of said inner shell communicating with said passage and with the interior of said inner shell, fins positioned along one side edge of said openings, baflle members extending along the forward edges of said openings and at substantially right angles to said flns, a circulator supported and driven bysaid motor and positioned rear-wardly of said inner shell, said circulator being a centrifugal fan adapted to draw air inwardly through said inner shell into said outer shell and direct the same outwardly and forwardly through said ring shaped passage.

2. An apparatus for drying by fluid circulation comprising outer and inner shells, means open to the atmosphere for supporting said shells, a motor in said outer shell and supported by said means, said outer shell being open" at its front end and bent downwardly at its rear end to substantially enclose said motor, said inner shell being open at its front and rear ends and spaced from said outer shell for orming a substantially ring-shaped passage bet een said shells, a heating element in said passage; openings in the top of said inner shellcommunicating with the interior of said outer shell and with said passage, flns in said passage positioned along one side edge of said openings, inclined baiiles extending along the forward edges of said openings at substantially right angles to the general direction of said fins and projecting partially over said openings, 7

a circulator supported and driven by saidmotor and positioned rearwardly of said inner shell, said 'circulator being a double centrifugal fan adapted to draw air from the atmosphere through the rear of the drier to said passage, to draw air inwardly through the inner shell into said outer shell and direct the same outwardly and forgarmdly, through said passage against said fins and es.

3. An apparatus for drying by fluid circulation comprising an outer shell open at its front end, hollowsupporting means for said shell engaging the rear end thereof and in commimication with the open atmosphere, a motor supported by said means in axial alinement with said shell. said outer shell being bent downwardlyv at its rear end to substantially enclose said motor, an inner shell open-at its front and rear ends positioned'within said outer shell and axially alined therewith, said inner shell being spaced from the inner wall of said outer shell for forming a substantially ring-shaped passage between said siselis, a heating element in said passage, elongated openings in the top of said inner shell communicating with the interior of said outer shell and with said passage, fins positioned along one side edge of said openings and extending in the generaldirection of and inclined at an angle to the casing of the said shells, upwardly and rearwardly inclined bailie members extending along the forward edges of said openings at substantially right angles to the general axis of the drier, ,acirculator supported and drivenby said motor and positioned rearwardly of said inner shell, iniaxial alinement with said shells, said circulator being a centrifugal fan adapted to draw air inwardly through said inner shell into said outer shell and direct the same outwardly and forwardly through the said ring shaped'passage against said fins and baffles, and thence through said elongated openings.

4. An apparatus for drying by fluid circulation comprising outer and inner axially aligned shells, said inner shell being open at its front and rear ends and spaced from said outer shell forming a substantially ring-shaped passage between said shells, a heating element for heating air flowing through said passage, a motor driven circulator at the rear of said passage, said outer shell being open at its front end and downwardly bent at its rear end to substantially enclose said circulator motor, openings in the top of said inner shellat both sides of the vertical axis of said inner shell, longitudinally disposed fins arranged at intervalsin said passage and inclined at an angle to the casing of. the shells, said circulator being a centrifugal fan adapted todraw air,in-

wardly through said inner shell ll'ltOiSd-li-hlzltfilf shell and direct the same,.outwardly- ,and forwardly through said ring shap'ed passage against said fins, certain of said fins extending along one side edge of said openings',-iarid*the fins on one side of the vertical axis *of said shells being longer than the flns on the other side of said vertical axis. l

5. An apparatus for drying by fluid circulation comprising outer and inner shells, means for supporting said shells, a motor in said outer shell and supported by said means, said outer shell being open at its front end and bent downwardly at its rear end to substantially enclose said motor,

said inner shell being open at its front and rear ends and spaced from said outer shell for forming a substantially ring-shaped passage between said shells, a heating element adjacent said passage, openings in said inner shell communicating with said passage and with the interior of said inner shell, flnspositioned along one side edge of said openings, baiiie members extending along the forward edges of said openings, a circulator supported and driven by said motor and positioned rearwardly of said inner shell, said circulator being a centrifugal fan adapted to draw air inwardly through said inner shell and direct the same outwardly and forwardly through said ring shaped passage against said fins and baflies and through said openings.

WENDELL L. MARTIN. 

